The Wonderbird Chronicles: Part II
by EKG and the monitor
Summary: The long-awaited continuation of Young Justice: The Wonderbird Chronicles. Follows Robin and Wonder Girl's journey through YJ: Invasion.
1. Chapter 1

_Mount Justice_

 _January 1, 14:16 EST_

This was not the way Cassie expected to spend New Year's Day.

Sure, she could have taken up her friend's offer to hit up the National Mall at midnight, and then end up spending the night at one of their houses. It had been a few weeks since she had hung out with any of her friends from school. Every chance they got to remind her of that fact, they would. If she did hang out with them, she knew the evening would mainly consist of her having to listen to her friends' prattle on about the supposed "secret" gang of juvenile delinquents she had abandoned them for. Now all she had time for was helping them terrorize her hometown.

They were kinda right, as she was spending most of her evenings with a bunch of highly trained vigilante teenagers. Many of them, herself included, having fantastic superpowers. At the moment though, she was getting her butt handed to her in a sparring match by one of these said teenagers. This teen though did not have any powers.

Robin stood across the training floor away from Cassie, a stone column compared to the overly fidgety blonde. His face did not budge an inch as Cassie twirled the practice staff in between her fingers. He instead chose to keep his own staff close to his side, ready to defend himself at any hint of an attack.

Cassie had been trying for the past thirty minutes to try and land at least one blow onto her friend, but the more he parried her thrusts and swept around her almost effortlessly, the more infuriated she became. The two had agreed on no superpowers, and she had to hand over her lasso so that she wouldn't get any ideas if the fight wasn't going her way...and it wasn't. She would occasionally just poke the air around Robin just to see if the boy would flinch. Of course, he wouldn't, but that just added on to Cassie's...confused ideas on what kind of a person he was. Should she be surprised that he wouldn't flinch? Or should she be angry that she wasn't surprised at all?

Without a seconds hesitation, Robin swung his staff up to jab Cassie right in the stomach. She was able to take a step back, but that only played into Robin's plan as he pulled the staff back and forth, pushing his opponent further and further back off of the training pad.

Not wanting to retreat, Cassie turned her staff so that she could use the staff's length to block Robin's advances. She was able to push him back to the point that they were back in the dead center of the ring. Robin had the good graces to back off from Cassie, letting her have a few moments to gain back the confidence to attack him.

The two circled around one another till Cassie let out a battle cry and began striking around him. To which he would once again dip and dive away from her fruitless stabbings. Robin weaved underneath her weapon to try and land a hit on her side and bring this fight to a close, but she caught sight of his staff and brought her gauntlet-covered wrist up towards her face, sparing her from what should have been his winning blow.

The clang of the wooden weapon hitting Cassie's bracelet was swallowed up by the fortified interior of the mountain. The close proximity of the two made the girl's breath become hitched. Her friend was leaning a few feet away from her, but he had most of his weight pressed against his staff and against her. Her blue eyes met with the white lenses of his mask, letting her see her own reflection within them.

Without warning, Robin hooked one of his feet to Cassie's leg, literally sweeping her off of her feet. Letting her staff fall from her hands and her backside smack against the ground with a loud thud. All this before pointing the blunt end of the staff square in her face.

"Yield. You're not going to win." his voice having an air of calmness as if he wasn't just fighting her.

Cassie raised herself onto her elbows, only because Robin's staff allowed her to rise to that level. She wasn't ready to give up though, "Yes, I will."

Slowly, as if her vigilant cohort wouldn't notice, Cassie's hand fumbled blindly against the floor, grasping for her weapon. Only as she had it and raised it upwards towards her opponent, he easily struck the middle of the stick, breaking it in half and knocking Cassie flat on her back again. Only this time, she had Robin's staff end just centimeters away from her eyes.

"You've lost," his voice losing none of the calmness he had moments ago. This time though, his attention was quickly taken away from the defeated girl beneath his staff. He casually turned away from her, strutting to one of the remains of Cassie's staff.

With his back turned to her, Cassie eyed the other major piece left of the staff lying adjacent to her body. Any attack would be a miserable and pathetic attempt on him, but Cassie's wounded pride wouldn't allow her to think of the action as beneath her.

She levitated herself off of the ground, latching onto the wooden remanent in the process. Her feet only touched the floor for a moment, just so that she could build up some momentum and fly straight at him.

Cassie screamed as she swung the broken piece at his head, only for him to sweep underneath the airborne girl. His staff colliding with the majority of Cassie's torso and upper shoulder, knocking most of the wind out of the blonde's lungs. If he had gone with one of the practice staffs like Cassie did, he knew that it would have shattered right upon impact.

As she was distracted, Robin's other hand was free to grab onto the wrist that held the remainder of her staff and twist it behind her back. Using the speed she had picked up mid flight, he spun them both around and pushed her down onto the floor, pinning her. Cassie opened her eyes the second his staff's end slammed against the ground next to her face, it echoing throughout the cave.

"It's over," there was no mistaking the unusual forcefulness in his voice now.

Cassie squirmed. Even with his whole body weight resting on her, she could easily fly up and fling him to the ground. However, who knows how much damage she could do to him if she tried. Diana would be so disappointed in her defeat. Cassie couldn't help but give up all the tension she had built up.

Sensing the change in her, Tim took a moment to let the adrenaline pumping in his veins subside. Being Robin, Batman's protege, all of his instincts told him not to let his guard down, even now, but he sensed Cassie was upset and unwilling to put up another fight. Of course, the half Amazon was deeply displeased with her loss. She was not as bad as La'gaan when it came to her pride, Tim knew that stroking her ego would help her cope with the latest of her string of defeats pretty quickly. He sighed regretfully, lifting himself off of her back, "We'll call it a draw."

Cassie rolled herself into a sitting position, rubbing her irritated wrists with care.

"You're getting better," Tim offered. He walked over towards her, extending her his hand. Though her pride was crying out in protest, Cassie allowed herself to grab onto his hand, helping her off of the ground. "But I thought we agreed, no powers."

"Shut up."

Robin smiled to himself, she'd get over the fight. She always did. "A few weeks ago, you wouldn't have used your wrist to block that blow."

Cassie huffed, "I've been trained by a tribe of immortal warriors, but I can't beat a fourteen-year-old with a stick?"

Her companion took in her words as he stalked away from her, picking up the shattered remains of her weapon that laid on the floor, "You were taught to face your adversaries head on. To use your all your strength to beat whoever you want into submission."

Cassie sneered at the statement, "And?"

The boy shrugged, "I was taught to avoid you."

Cassie couldn't help but laugh at the sentiment, hiding none of her annoyance. She wasn't going to just take that from him, "I keep losing to you because my ideology is wrong and yours is right?"

That caught him off a bit, his head moved a little downwards as if he was staring at his feet. His attention did come back to her within seconds, "I didn't say that."

"No, you implied it."

A deep blush bloomed onto the boy wonder's face. This was not going well for him, "I-"

"That's enough training for today," a velvety voice cut in. Both teens did a one-eighty to see Nightwing alongside M'gann, Superboy, and Mal all filing into the room. "New mission brief."

Cassie and Tim gathered into the group as the rest of the team followed suit. The two had always stood by the rest of the freshmen of the team, Garfield, La'gaan, and Blue Beetle. Though Cassie considered Robin and Batgirl to be her closest friends, even though most of her run ins with Robin were either quick awkward conversations or long silent training sessions. Still, she still put in the effort to hang out with the members of the team who were close to her age.

After everyone had arrived, Nightwing pressed on with what he was saying, "Alright team, listen up."

Behind him, Mal brought up holographic images of a giant slug-looking beast, a map of Gotham, and an image of an eerie building, and placed them front and center behind Nightwing, letting all of the team see the images. The last photo, the one with the unsettling palace, Cassie noticed that attached to building was a large black iron gate that reeked of gothic influence. Cassie squinted at the gate in the image which had the words, " _Arkham Asylum"_ in bold letters.

"Less than an hour ago, Matthew Hagen, aka Clayface, was reported missing from his cell at Arkham Asylum in Gotham City. Members of the League were able to find him, but he escaped capture. We have been asked to step in and apprehend him."

La'gaan leaned in towards Tim, "Five bucks say that we all get Delta squad."

Robin barely nodded and hummed to agree with La'gaan. As much as Tim would have liked to have been, he and La'gaan were not the closest of friends. Sure he was close to his age, and he was use to big personalities, but something about La'gaan didn't rub him the right way.

La'gaan leaned forward to M'gann, who was standing a few feet in front of him, "We haven't been on a mission together in a while, huh, Angelfish?"

M'gann smiled slightly, still trying to pay attention to the mission. Nightwing though, his face growing displeased with the unneeded comments from La'gaan.

"Superboy, Miss Martian, Beast Boy, Blue Beetle, Bumblebee, and Robin, you're all Delta squad. Half of you will take the bioship while the others will zeta to Gotham."

The boy wonder couldn't help but smile a bit as all the happiness on La'gaan's face melted away, leaving only shock and sadness. Cassie too thought it was a little funny, as a quick giggle escaped from her lips before she ducked away from the Atlantean's judgemental red eyes.

As the pictures behind Nightwing disappeared, he wrapped up the briefing, "Plan to leave in ten minutes. Batgirl and Wonder Girl, stay behind. The rest of you are excused."

While the rest of the team wandered out of the room with the exception of Cassie and Barbara, Nightwing turned to speak with Mal.

Bumblebee grumbled quietly to M'gann, "Not only do we gotta go hunt down the blob; I'm gonna miss another lab session! If anyone should have been left behind…"

La'gaan, who got the nerve to walk up to Nightwing was suddenly yanked away by M'gann. Though pleading with her to let him go, she pulled him out of the room before he did something he would regret.

Cassie side-eyed Barbara, who was doing the same thing to her, wondering why they were asked to stay behind. Cassie heard Nightwing quietly thank Mal, letting the giant of a man leave the room too.

Pulling up another hologram, this time a keyboard, Nightwing began typing up something while images of a Wayne Tech building. Cassie couldn't distinguish which city it was located in, but she figured she'd find out later.

Nightwing turned to the two girls, "We've just got tipped off on a possible robbery at the Wayne Tech branch in New York. We don't know who is behind it or when it might happen, so we just need you two to recon the building and report in if you find anything suspicious. Are we clear?"

Both Cassie and Barbara nodded, "Yes."

* * *

 _New York City_

 _January 1, 18:16 EST_

The general atmosphere was typical for New York at the dawning of a new year; the same as every other day. The fact that the day should be spent like every holiday, at home on a couch, meant nothing to the thousands littering the streets and the cabs and other cars bloating the vast metropolis. The horns of the cars and general sounds of the city were so deafening that Cassie, perched a dozen stories above the mobs had much trouble ignoring them. Her attention was supposed to be as attuned to the situation as Barbara's, but she couldn't help but lean over the wall of the two's vantage point and look down upon the remains of the previous night's celebrations. Watching dozens of city street cleaners whiz by, picking up all of the discarded noisemakers and other festive items was infinitely more interesting than watching an empty security feed.

Barbara couldn't be too mad at her friend. Not everyone could be as patient or focused as a bat kid, and with them sitting on an empty roof doing nothing but looking at surveillance cameras from the Wayne Tech building just across the street. Fifteen minutes into watching cleaning crews and security guards march up and down the empty halls left much to be desired for Cassie.

Reluctantly, Cassie peeled away from her spot against the wall, kicking up some of the leftover confetti that had accumulated on the edge of the building, "If you look past the mission, we're still in New York on New Year's."

"New Year's Day. Major difference."

Barbara turned her head just so that she could see Cassie through her peripheral vision, who was coming back over to her. The blonde leaned heavily on Barbara's back as she started watching the surveillance again. Resting her hands on the other girl's shoulders forced Barbara to scrunch down till her chest was almost touching her knees. Cassie's very obvious invasion of Barbara's personal space didn't bother Barb too much, as Cassie was typically very professional while on missions, but her youth and eagerness for action still shone through as she would indulge in a tiny bit of childish behavior. Barbara had no doubt in her mind that if things suddenly got hairy, Cassie would snap out of it and become the member of the team she had to be.

"Looks like a ghost town in there," Cassie whispered. "You really think anyone's going to rob it?"

One of Barbara's eyebrows raised at the comment, while the rest of her was glued to the video screen, "You know they can't hear you?"

The extra hundred pounds of weight slid off of Barbara's back, allowing her to not look like a dead-ringer for Quasimodo. That disappearing weight casually strode around the roof, seemingly without a care in the world.

Barbara's attention was quickly taken away from her screen as she heard a loud yawn come up from behind her. She caught sight of Cassie, standing on the tips of her toes and arms raised high above her head, stretching out to relieve her of some of the "tension" she had gained on this highly-tense situation. Yet Barbara's eyes did linger on the small pink bruises that littered all along her friend's arms. It seemed that she took more interest in them that the person who was afflicted with them was. If Cassie's body had not been as regenerative as it was, if she was non-meta, those bruises would be purple instead of the near pinkish hue they were. They would be painful as well, Tim was highly regarded for his skill with a bo staff.

Without looking up, "He's going easy on you. You know that, right?"

Cassie blinked in confusion, "And why would he do that?"

"It's because he knows you're going easy on him."

The blonde fell silent, as anything she would say might just be thrown back in her face. Instead, she hung her head down and tried to ignore the palpable silence between herself and the bat.

"I believed your fighting was real the first time I saw it," Barbara admitted. "The raw anger and frustration really sold it. It didn't look fake."

Barbara dug into one of the satchels she had packed for the long night and handed her younger friend a small thermos she had filled up with coffee. Cassie chuckled to herself as a small bat emblem was emblazoned on the side, "A lot of it wasn't."

"I don't see why you have to do this. If you don't want to lose every fight to him; why do you keep letting them happen?"

Cassie closed her eyes, letting her shoulders drop as she released a heavy sigh, "I just want to prove that I'm strong just like everybody else. If I'm weak, I have to get stronger."

Barbara leaned in close, "If you want people to see you as strong, then don't let him win."

The blonde slowly looked back to her friend, with some foreign look that confused Barbara. A certain sadness peeked through her eyes, only to be covered up by a moment of confusion, and then fully replaced with a strong poker face.

As the two stared one another down, a sudden flurry of snowflakes fluttered down upon the city. A gust of wind not only swirled the wisps of winter around the air, but it was powerful enough to whip up the remnants of the slips of confetti from their hiding spots. For a brief moment, it was a small yet beautiful collaboration of natural and artificial beauty, bringing a bit of color to an otherwise monochromatic feat of nature.

This though did not lift Cassie's sudden change in demeanor. As voices started to burst out their rendition of _Auld Lang Syne_ , Cassie's mouth hung a bit open. Seemingly ready to speak, but unable to form a syllable.

Barbara's concern grew, only to be halted when the girl did finally answer her, but only in a tone that matched her somber looks, "I would if I could...but I can't."

That caught Barbara's attention, "What's that-"

"Beta squad," Nightwing's stern voice cut in, "Delta has located and captured Clayface."

Barbara couldn't help but notice Cassie's neutral expression before immediately turning away from her line of sight.

"One more thing," Nightwing blathered out through the radio, "A break in at the UN requires your immediate assistance."

"The perpetrator?"

"Don't know," Nightwing responded. "Unknown alien. Considered hostile and dangerous. Sending coordinates now."

Cassie's spirits suddenly returned at the instructions Nightwing gave. Some of the color that had left her came back with moments, overjoyed at the prospect of a fight.

* * *

 _Mount Justice_

 _January 1, 2:16 EST_

For the past few months that Cassie had been on the team, she had always gone through a strange re-occurrence at the end of many of her mission. If she was not utterly exhausted by the nature of the missions, the second she would have to zeta back into the Cave, she would be wiped out.

No matter how much she complained or fought, no one on the team agreed that the zeta transport made them tired. It was just her.

So, the minute the computer reads out her name, " _Wonder Girl. B21."_ She slugs back towards the showers, just so that she doesn't have to go home smelling like sweat and old cement. That and hot showers always made her feel like she was going through a religious experience.

She started down the hallway, taking quick notice of La'gaan and a freshly showered Garfield chilling out in the sofa playing one of Gar's first-person-shooters. The young boys were both highly investing in the game, as Garfield's tail swung around behind him like a whip ready to crack. The Atlantean not only had to dodge Gar's attacks in their virtual reality but in the physical realm as well. Cassie knew it would have been rude of her not to say hello.

Coming into the room, she glanced up at the tv, "Who's winning?"

Right as the words left her lips, a giant explosion happened inside the video game, causing part of the screen to go red, and La'gaan to huff angrily, "Neptune's Beard! Him…"

Gar snickered as the two mindlessly set up the game again, ready to take the other out with extreme prejudice.

"Where is everybody?" Cassie inquired. The kitchen was empty, and Batgirl had left to report her findings to Nightwing. The older girl made it pretty clear that Cassie didn't need to be in the room with her and the team's leader as she told him about General Tseng and the It knockoff. Of course, Cassie was tired and gross, she wasn't going to interject.

"Jaime went home, and everybody else is asleep," Gar replied. His tail slapping the back of La'gaan's head as he nearly slammed his fingers up against his controller.

"What about Rob-"

Cassie was interrupted by another explosion on the screen, but this time it was Gar who must have lost, as La'gaan was grinning like a hyena.

Rolling her eyes, she decided her presence was not needed, "I'm hitting the showers. Night!"

"You're not going to want to go in there," Garfield stated loudly. His attention still seemingly only on the game. "Clayface led us into the sewers."

La'gaan concurred with his rival, "You really don't want to go in there."

Her eyes flickering back and forth from the hallway that led to the showers, and to the soaked thirteen-year old green monkey boy sitting on the rec room's couch. Cassie decided there that she'd take their word for it and just go home.

"I'll see you guys later, I guess-"

Once more, her speech was drowned out by the screaming boys. Her departure was not noticed, as Garfield's cries of victory versus La'gaan's furious whining swallowed up any noise that was in the Cave.

* * *

Author's Notes: I hope you've all enjoyed this chapter. I know, nothing happens, but I do promise that if you stick with this and me you won't be too disappointed. Please leave a review or comment, they're always welcome.

Thank you so much,

EKG


	2. Chapter 2

_Mount Justice_

 _January 4, 20:01 EST_

Cassie felt as though she was walking on air as she strutted out of the main room of the Cave. Alpha squad. She had been on Alpha once before with Nightwing, but she didn't expect that he would choose her again so soon. Maybe Barbara had told their leader of Cassie's ardent wish of being trusted to do more difficult missions.

Still, she was more than pleased with her assignment. So much so, that she caught herself levitating a few inches off of the floor whilst mid-walking. The second she noticed that she was doing it, her body cut off the sensation, letting her fall back down to the floor without any grace.

Her mind started to whirl, _"So, my powers are based on my emotions?"_ No, that didn't make sense. Normally, whenever she would use her powers she would feel a combination of happiness, anger, and determination. Usually, she would just think, "fly" and it'd work. With her strength, she'd just look at something and it hit it. It had worked for her so far.

A hand touching her shoulder took her out of her mind and back to the real world. She turned to see it was Barbara along with the rest of the team who had been assigned to the Krolotean attacks. Trailing along far behind the pack was Robin, his face riddled with his usual expression of doom and gloom.

"You okay?" Barbara asked.

She pushed away all of her questions away to the back of her mind, "Yeah. Let's go."

* * *

Cassie twiddled with her hair as she sat alone in the Super-Cycle. Nightwing had yet to arrive in the hanger, and everyone else was busy preparing to leave for their assignments. Barbara, Karen, and Wolf had already left, as their hotspot was thirty minutes away from the nearest zeta tube.

As much as Cassie loved flying, she liked to ride in the Super-Cycle. She liked it more than riding in the Bioship. She still got to feel the wind in her hair and look down on the world from up above. So far, she hadn't any bugs fly into her teeth yet, so that was a plus. She wondered if anyone would be weirded out by the fact that she wanted to borrow the Super-Cycle to see how high from the ground she'd have to fly to avoid getting hit by bugs. From the calculations that she did on her own time, it was five hundred feet.

Across the hanger, Blue Beetle and La'gaan were arguing as they climbed aboard the Bioship. Cassie wondered where Robin had gone, as she did not see him go into the ship nor into the hanger itself. She looked around the spacious room, but she couldn't see him anywhere. Getting up out of her seat, she started to walk around hoping to find him. What sounded like footsteps came down the hallway, and she was curious to see if it was him, or perhaps her leader ready to set off. She cut underneath the Bioship's heavy wing when she nearly crashed into the preoccupied Robin, "Ah!"

"Sorry," he cried out as he jumped away from her. His whole body tensed up with the exception of his arms which had raised themselves into a defensive position.

The two looked at each other, after assessing that neither party was of any threat they instantly cooled down. Not knowing what to say, which was becoming a common occurrence around the boy wonder, Cassie waited to see if he would talk first.

Normally, Tim would wait out eternity rather than speaking to someone first. Most people would tell him that he was being shy, but he just wasn't comfortable being forward in that way. Yet, the bewildered look on Cassie's face made Tim's conscience get the best of him, "Were you looking for something?"

"Umm, yeah. Nightwing. I-I figured he was with you."

Tim stood by for a moment, "No...he's not." Wanting more than anything to leave, he started pointed back down the hallway, "Do you want me to go get him?"

Before he had the chance to escape she shook her head, "No, thank you. I'll just wait here for him. Is your team heading out?"

He nodded, avoiding eye contact with her, "Yeah. Are you too?"

Cassie's raised eyebrow could have touched her hairline, and it still would not have been high enough, "No, I...can't leave without Nightwing."

Blushing red, Tim stumbled over himself, "Right, right. You're on Alpha together."

Caught in an awkward silence, Cassie rocked back and forth on her heels. She should have just gone around him and avoided this one-sided conversation, "So, who's leading your team? La'gaan?"

"I am."

Cassie's head pulled back a bit, "Oh, that's awesome. Is this your first time as a leader?"

Tim felt like his mouth was producing more saliva than was humanly possible. He had to keep swallowing it down in his nervous state, "Yeah."

Reading the fear on the boy's face like a book really bothered Cassie. She had imagined that her own awkwardness was not helping his current mood. She stopped rocking back, letting her center of gravity become normal before she spoke, "Well, I'm really pulling for you."

The lenses of Tim's mask shot up, "Really?"

"Absolutely." She leaned in towards him, "If you do a good job, Nightwing might consider letting some of us other freshmen lead our own missions. Imagine that, taking orders from me or Garfield."

Tim couldn't help but smirk and raise his eyebrow. Cassie realized the ridiculousness of the idea, and let out a light giggle. It was infectious enough to make Tim chuckle for a moment.

"You're right-"

Tim mumbled, "It's not a-"

"Terrible idea?"

Pulling his bottom lip into his mouth, Tim figured he wouldn't get in trouble with Cassie if he didn't say anything. Then again, if he stayed totally silent she'd probably find something wrong with that too. He'd do anything to stay off of her bad side.

Cassie smiled again, "You're gonna do great."

Tim stared at her. Her confidence shone through anything she said. It was a part of her that he highly respected and wished he could reciprocate. Barbara and Dick had that quality too, and they made it look so easy. Here he was doing everything he could to be as calm and self-possessed as people expected him to be. Cassie's certainty was welcomed, but unfounded.

Translation; he couldn't buy it.

He pushed himself around the girl, "Thanks."

Tim marched up the Bioship's ramp refusing to look down at the blonde who stood by so close, and so dumbfounded.

* * *

 _Philadelphia_

 _January 4, 22:55 EST_

As the Super-Cycle zoomed across the Philly skyline, Cassie cocked her head back to look at her teammate, "You know I'm flattered that you want to be on a squad with me again, but I don't want you to feel like you have to babysit me."

"I know that," Nightwing replied. "Thanks to Strange's intel, we can find the Krolotean hotspots and shut them down, but the zeta beam traces don't tell us how many Kroloteans there are at each one."

"Meaning?"

A sudden heavy wind current brushed up against the Super-Cycle, forced him to talk louder, "The one we're heading to has the highest concentration of zeta beam radiation-"

Cassie jumped in, "So, safe to assume it has the highest concentration of aliens?"

Nightwing nodded, "With Superboy off-world, you're the heaviest hitter on the team. Which might come in handy, so be ready."

Turning back in her seat, Cassie muttered, "Born ready."

* * *

"One Krolotean escaped," Nightwing stated loud enough that Mal could hear him clearly back at Mount Justice.

Cassie stood close by, rewinding her lasso into tight loops. Sure, she didn't need to do it as she didn't get to use it on the mission. So, there weren't any big bad alien butts to kick, so what? It was fine. She wasn't complaining.

Well, she wasn't complaining out loud.

"And Gamma?!"

Cassie turned towards Nightwing/ He paid no attention to her as she darted over to him hoping to hear whatever bad news Mal had to give. Only as she got close enough, her squad member scurried to the Super-Cycle ready to leave.

"What's going on?" she asked as she flew up and into the seat in front of Nightwing. "What's wrong with Gamma?"

Her leader revved up the controls and let the vehicle tear out into the open sky, "We're gathering with the rest of the team. The League will meet up with us on the way to New Orleans."

Cassie could barely hear him over the wind as they flew at break-neck speed, "What's wrong?"

"You wondered where the Kroloteans were? Now we know."

* * *

 _New Orleans_

 _January 4, 22:18 CST_

Tim waited as the last of the hostages jumped into the water before he got in. He and Jaime jumped in at the same time, while La'gaan waited a few seconds before following them. The last time he checked, they still had thirty seconds before the bomb would go off, and they were now in the underwater tunnel and heading back up to the surface. Thankfully, everybody knew how to swim, and they were just about at the end of the tunnel.

A few air bubbles passed through Tim's rebreather as he turned to see where La'gaan had gone. Before he could see him, an enormous quake ripped through the tunnel, making all the abductees panic.

In seconds, a giant air bubble shot from where the hideout was, coming straight for Tim and the rest of the group.

* * *

"How much longer?" Cassie whined.

They had picked up Batgirl, Wolf, and Bumblebee and were now high-tailing it down to New Orleans. Cassie couldn't wait though, who knew what was happening to her friends. They should have been there by now. Every second they wasted was another second that their friends were possibly being tortured by the evil space-hobbits.

"We're almost there," Barbara whispered to her. "Just a few more-"

A massive explosion burst against the sky, lighting it up into a hellish-bloody hue. It's color and heat was too much for Cassie to straight on look at it, as she had to turn away shielding her eyes.

Against her common sense, she stood up from her seat, setting one of her feet on the back of the driver's seat to get a better look. Her eyes widened as she stared into the fire, watching as it destroyed every last inch of where the Krolotean hideout was. If the team was still in there...that meant, _"No."_

* * *

The force of the air bubble pushed Tim and all of the others in the tunnel like a freight train, taking hold of them without warning and shooting them up towards the surface a hundred times faster than they could swim.

All of the abductees got up to air first, Jaime followed seconds later with their Krolotean captive in hand. Tim's head scanned all of the areas around him, as he had not seen his Atlantean team member come up, "Where's La'gaan?"

Speaking of the demon, said Atlantean shot up from the cold waters shouting, "That's right! Gamma squad rules!"

Sighing with relief, Tim took a moment to be thankful that everyone had gotten out without a problem. Yes, he'd have to explain why there no longer was a Krolotean hideout when backup would come, but he was happy enough to revel in the modest success of his first led mission.

It was not to last though, as Jaime interrupted him, "Uh...Rob?"

Tim's gaze followed the direction that Jaime was looking up to, where low behold, the Justice League was ascending.

Superman, Wonder Woman, and a slew of the other poster children of the League hovered above the soaked Gamma squad. Their capes and hair waving in the wind as they descended towards the water. Making them the very effigies of splendor that many adored. If there was ever a moment Tim truly felt how much weight the images of the League carried, it was then.

A sudden gust of wind knocked the third Robin back for a second, but he recovered within seconds to turn and look at Red Tornado, along with half a dozen more of the League with him.

Like they were all a line of dominoes, another line of League members showed up to the party. Then another. Tim should have held his attention on this group, as his own mentor was amongst their numbers. Instead, he looked up at the alien motorcycle that carried the rest of his team as it made its ascent towards him.

Aboard it sat Batgirl, Bumblebee, and Wolf. Wonder Girl stood halfway out of the cycle, and in front of her at the bike's helm was Nightwing. The pale neutral look he gave towards the three boys currently bobbing in the water could have made anyone feel uneasy.

All three members of Gamma squad looked at one another, silently accepting that in about five seconds, they were about to experience the scolding of a lifetime. They all looked up to their leader, ready to take whatever he threw at them.

Nightwing continued to stare blankly at them. Yet, the group was too far away from him to see the small smirk that the previous Robin was hiding.

He yelled out to his younger brother, "Dude! Way to get your feet wet!"

Tim couldn't help but smile at the warm reception.

Each Justice League member was able to lift all of the abductees from the cold waters and back up to the mainland. Superman and Wonder Woman took charge of putting out the inferno while Batman and Red Tornado took charge of interviewing all of those who had been taken, asking them how long they had been missing and why they had been taken. Aquaman and a few others went back to the submerged hideout to look for any clues.

Nightwing took the Super-Cycle down to the water, getting close enough that it would be easy for all of Gamma to get into the vehicle.

As he was drifting down, Jaime yelled out to him, "How mad do you think Batman is?"

"He's not. Ends justify the means," their leader yelled back.

Tim cocked his eyebrow, "Are you mad?"

"Oh, no," he admitted. "I blew up way bigger things when I was your age."

Suddenly, a small gauntlet-covered hand reached right out in front of Tim's face. His eyes drifted up to the short blonde girl looking down on him.

Cassie's smile gleamed with utter joy as she took Tim's arm, lifting him up into the seat right next to hers, "Told you that you could do it."

Since the Amazon immediately turned away to pull Jaime and La'gaan up, she didn't get to look at the brilliant smile that was dancing across Tim's face.

* * *

Author's Notes: Hope the chapter was alright. Thank you for sticking around. Comment or review, both are welcome. You all know the shtick.

Cheers,

EKG


	3. Chapter 3

_Washington D.C._

 _January 6, 15:16 EST_

With how wild most of Cassie's life had become, evenings that she could spend with her mother had been few and far between. Alien invasion or not, her hectic extracurriculars were starting to screw with her sleep schedule.

So, imagine her surprise when the night before, Nightwing offered her two nights off to do whatever she wanted.

The young protege of Wonder Woman was left with a smorgasbord of ideas on what to do with herself. She could have gotten started on homework, called up some of her civilian friends for a night out, or maybe treat herself to the new Wendy the Werewolf Stalker movie. She instead chose to spend the evening at home with her mother and some very unhealthy Chinese food. She loved the team, of course. She loved to go out on missions, she would have stayed if they asked her to. Still, if she was one hundred percent honest with herself, she would describe her well deserved night off as being heaven-sent.

Cassie pattered out of the kitchen, her cold bare feet sinking into the plush carpeted floor of the living room. She paid no mind to the empty take-out boxes littering both the coffee and end tables nor the muted news report on the television. She just carried on towards her mother's bedroom with a stack of freshly laundered button ups destined to become wrinkled and riddled with sweat stains by the time her mother returned from her week-long conference in New York.

"Sweetheart, I think I can pack a suitcase by myself," Helena stated as she stuffed rolled up pants into her check-on bag. From how disheveled Helena looked with her stringy brown hair chaotically tied in a knot and her choice to only half-dress for bed, one could only guess the catastrophe that was waiting inside the woman's bag.

Cassie swept past her and placed the nicely ironed shirts down on the bed. She had to do her best in pretending that she wouldn't pounce on her mother's bag the second she stopped shoving her clothes in it. It was her moral duty to reverse some of the damage her parent had done.

"If you did, I wouldn't have to fix it now would I?"

The older woman's head slowly rolled to her child, "I don't like that tone, young lady."

Cassie to her mother, "Just being honest with you. And did you see how easy that was to do?"

Helena could hardly believe her ears. Was Cassie still holding the "Great and Almighty Zeus is My Father" card over her head, "Really? You're still holding a grudge against me?"

"Well, you did keep my father's real identity from me my whole life," Cassie spoke, her words dripping heavily with sarcasm. "So...yeah, I'm still a little ticked off about that."

The older woman quit stuffing her bag and let herself plop down onto her bed, "

"Mom," Cassie whispered. She leaned down to Helena, "I'm sorry. I was just messing with you. I'm not that mad, I'm fine."

Helena lifted her head up immediately. Staring back at her was Cassie's bright blue eyes somewhat hidden away behind her uneven blonde bangs. The girl's eyes flickered down towards her mother's hand just before her own started to slide underneath it. Helena's limb remained motionless as Cassie's small fingers lacing within her own.

Helena, her mind dumbstruck, asked, "Really?"

"As I said, I'm not _that_ mad."

Without hesitation, Helena pulled her child against her chest, almost crushing the girl. Cradling one of her hands against her child's back and the other on top of the blonde's messy hair.

Cassie stood by in panic for a few moments. It took another few before her arms shifted upwards, resting against her mother's back. She closed her eyes, letting herself take a few deep breaths and inhale the almost pungent smell of Helena's body. Cassie had gotten used to the smell, it had accompanied her mother all of her life. When she was a little girl, if Cassie ever had a terrible day at school, her mother would come into her room after dinner and pull her into a comforting hug. Right along with that embrace came the powerful smell. In truth, Cassie never felt better than when her mother's head rested on her own and she caught wind of the smell.

Two sudden chirps erupted from the radio inside Cassie's ear. The two made no movements, trying to pretend that the small sounds were only a figment of their imaginations. Seconds later, three chirps with a little more force cut through the silence stripping the nice moment away from the two women.

Slipping out of Helena's arms, Cassie trudged over to the other side of the room, "Hello?"

"Wonder Girl," Mal's deeply rich voice replied. "Something just came up. Everybody's coming back to the Cave."

Helena stood up from where she sat, waiting for Cassie to turn back around and face her. Though she could not hear the conversation that was being held, she assumed that her daughter would be leaving sooner than she was. She didn't notice that her anxiety had seeped through to her aged face.

"Cassie?"

The girl didn't move, "Nightwing needs me back at the Cave."

"Oh," Helena trailed off, unconsciously fiddling with her shirt's sleeve. "Did he say why?"

A tear ran down Cassie's warm face in under a second. As her back was still turned away from her mother, she was able to wipe her tears away with her arm without her seeing it, "No, I have to go."

Helena nodded, pivoting back around to stuff all of her toiletries into her bag. She heard a gust of wind rush behind her, right as a small pair of tanned arms wrapped around her waist. She nearly fell backward, but the stone-strong girl standing behind her kept her from going anywhere.

"I love you, mom." More tears slipped out of her eyes, Cassie didn't try to fight them. She did her best to try and stay positive, "I'll see you when I get back."

Before Helena even had the opportunity to blink, her daughter had let go of her and flown straight of the bedroom's window. Helena looked out to watch Cassie vanish from view, but after sticking her head out into the chilly afternoon sky, she could not see her anywhere. Her window's thin white curtains brushed up against her as her head turned in every direction, to no avail.

* * *

 _Mount Justice_

 _January 6, 16:16 EST_

Foot tapping echoed in the main room of the Cave. Cassie didn't care though if Mal made it clear to her that coming back for a very important mission was a top priority, then he should have been waiting right outside of the zeta tube for her. Still, she comes in ready to knock skulls against each other, all for nothing. She was getting ready to knock his skull the next time she saw him. If she had to wait one more minute...

"Where in Hera's-" she muttered to herself. She would have used much coarser language if she hadn't caught Nightwing marching down the hallway in her peripherals. Stalking behind him were Conner and M'gann, but they were at least six-feet apart from one another. Their poor attempts to avoid any awkwardness between them only accomplish their unwanted goal. La'gaan did his best to trot closely with his girlfriend, but she was too busy "avoiding" Conner that she didn't see the jittery Atlantean trying desperately to walk with her.

Trailing at the end of the pack was the rest of the batkids, Barbara and Robin. Whereas Barbara's face lit up at the sight of Cassie, Robin's downward gaze did not move an inch.

Cassie tried not to dwell on him, as Nightwing and the rest of the party had moved around her and became settled. Robin moved past Cassie and stood before her and most of the team. Barbara came to a stop right next to her blonde friend, waiting as holographic screens sprung to life behind Nightwing.

What Cassie didn't know was that the boy's eyes, hidden behind his domino mask, did quickly glance up at her. They lingered for less than a moment, then moved onward to Nightwing standing in the middle of the Cave.

"With last night's raids, we weren't able to find out whether or not the Kroloteans that remain here on Earth have a secret base that we do not know about. But with the help of Miss Martian, we have discovered that there is such a base, and where it is," An image of a small tropical island appeared on the holoscreen behind the team's leader. "Malina Island."

Cassie leaned over to her friend, "What's he talking about?"

Barbara wasted no time in explaining, "Last night, we sent out three teams to root out the Kroloteans. Like some of the ones we faced, the ones in the robot-human suits."

"And I wasn't invited?"

The older girl had to shush Cassie, as their whispers were starting to grow in volume. Nightwing death-glared at them for a moment, but continued on with his spiel, "As this is a highly volatile situation, members of the League will-"

Not quite showing the respect that was demanded by their leader, Barbara resumed their quiet conversation, "It was a discreet operation. We didn't want anyone to be torn limb from limb."

"Shocked, I tell you," the blonde whined. Her profane use of sarcasm was not fun to listen to from Barbara's standpoint. "I am shocked. I'm not an animal, you know."

Out of the corner of her eye, Cassie noticed that Garfield was looking directly at her. The displeasure shown on his freckled-green face was enough to make Cassie mouth her apologizes to him.

Barbara rolled her eyes as slowly as were humanly possible, "Don't be melodramatic."

Cassie rolled her eyes in return, but they suddenly rested on the boy standing a few feet in front of her. Moments ago, he was totally engrossed in the mission briefing, his cropped black hair the only thing visible from Cassie's view. Now, his head was turned enough that she could see a sliver of one of the white lenses of his mask. If she hadn't known any better, she would have guessed that he was eavesdropping.

Cassie did her best to whisper to him, "Did you know about this?"

The boy made no attempt to acknowledge her. She began to seriously question whether or not he had heard what she asked him. If he was going to give her the answer she thought that he would give, it would be best if he remained silent. Her mind quieted as she directed her attention back to Nightwing.

"It will take us a few hours for us to get there, and as there are no zeta tubes anywhere near that location, we will need to travel by Bioship," his faced turned to look right at Cassie, "Miss Martian and Martian Manhunter will be Alpha squad."

M'gann nodded in agreement as Nightwing prattled on, "Aquaman will be joining us within the hour, he and Lagoon Boy will make up Beta squad. Along with Batman, Batgirl, Robin, and I will be Gamma squad."

Cassie looked around to see that out of everyone that was mentioned, she and Conner were the only people who were not assigned to a squad. From where she stood, she could see that he was just as aware of their lack of mission.

"And the rest of us?" Conner cut in. "Are you expecting a fight?"

"We aren't expecting one, but you never know…" Nightwing's gaze moved from Conner to Cassie Superboy and Wonder Girl, you along with your mentors will make up Delta. You'll be our reserves. Anything goes wrong-"

"Something always goes wrong," Conner muttered to himself.

Everyone started to disband from the group, even though Nightwing still had some things to say, "We leave when the League gets here."

* * *

Being inside the Bioship's cargo hold was always strange for Cassie. The G-rated flying-Cronenberg contraption nearly gave her a heart attack the first time she flew in it. She had sat down in one of the ship's' seats when it apparated into existence, molding itself against Cassie's body. She didn't know that if she punched the seat it would shatter it a hundred pieces. Nor that her punch could severely hurt the Bioship. She had to apologize to M'gann for weeks after her little freakout.

It took months for her to get back on the Bioship's good side. There were days when during a mission she would sit down, only for the ship's seat to melt away, letting her butt collide with the floor. Some time had passed, and Cassie felt that she had put herself back in the ship's good graces.

Diana, along with Superman and Connor came into the cargo bay, passing right by Cassie on their way to the ship's bridge. It took the blonde a minute to register that it was them who walked past her, but she came to her senses and followed right after them.

Right as she moved to the entryway of the bridge, a large black shadow swooped across the ship, landing right behind the girl. She spun out of the way just in time to watch Batman sweep past her, his cape billowing behind him. Less than a step behind him was Nightwing, even further back came the last two members of the batclub.

Barbara flashed a quick smile at Cassie, only to continue along with the rest of her family. Cassie was able to smile back and nod at Barb before the redhead moved beyond her into the bridge.

Cassie kept smiling, turning to look at the last member who was trailing far behind the others. She expected Robin to keep his head down, only to give her a quick nod as he joined everyone else up in the front of the ship.

As suspected, Robin moved in silence up to the bridge, his face cast downwards. If he kept that up, he'd be a crookback before his twenties. The thought made Cassie's smile a tiny bit bigger as she waited for him to acknowledge her.

Her whole head moved from one side to the next, following his movements as he moved right around her, not sparing a single moment to look at her. All she could see was a faint pink blush blooming on his cheeks, but she was a bit too shocked at the boy's lack of interest towards her to let that fully register with her.

* * *

 _South Pacific_

 _January 6, 20:25 HAST_

"Dropzone Delta; five minutes," Nightwing clearly stated. With how focused he was at keeping the Bioship camouflaged and properly flying, Cassie was surprised that he didn't even move a muscle when addressing the rest of the squads.

Diana rose from her seat and strode to the back of the ship, "Wonder Girl, come."

Cassie shot a glance at Barbara, who looked at her in return. Both couldn't help but smile, nor could Cassie help that her eyes drifted a little to the raven-haired boy sitting in front of Barbara, staring on ahead.

Not wanting to linger on any longer, she turned and headed straight back to the cargo hold. Both Conner and Superman stood firmly in front of the ship's entrance waiting, while Diana stood close by.

Worry graced her face, "Are you ready?"

"Yeah...let's do this."

With that said, the entrance melted away, letting Cassie look onto the black night sky. Both the ocean and sky were so dark a hue, she could hardly believe that such two different planes existed. Tendrils of the stars' light danced across the waters, making Cassie daydream that they were millions of fish swimming to the top of the ocean to see the night's majesty.

"Come," Diana uttered to Cassie right before she flew out of the ship alongside the two Kryptonians.

Cassie's eyes scanned the ship, getting a quick last look before jumping. She spoke quietly through the psychic link, " _Good luck, everybody."_

Sitting passively in his seat, Tim's eyes stayed glued out towards the ink black waters surrounding the island. Too afraid to turn and look back on his friend. Too afraid to send her a mental reply. Too afraid to even mouth to himself the words, "Good luck, Wonder Girl."

* * *

Author's Notes: Hope you all have had a nice month, I've had such a nice one I haven't had time to upload this. I know, it's gonna be a while for Cass and Tim to be nice towards each other again. Stick around...only if you want to. I'm not holding you against your will. Shout out to Angel-Gidget; you're the real MVP.

Cheers,

EKG


	4. Chapter 4

_Malina Island_

 _January 6, 20:48 HAST_

Cassie never considered those who she fought against as anything of a very serious nature. Of course, the puppet masters who controlled them, and controlled the vast network of spies, assassins, and thieves that Cassie saw every other day were of the deadly serious kind; but their three-dollar ski mask-wearing pawns were certainly not. Cassie could blow through a whole brigade of them without batting an eye. Therefore, on missions where their foes were stacked against them like dominoes, she rarely had cause to fear for her life or the lives of her teammates.

Now though, as she stood in the middle of a small tropical island in the dead of night waiting for something to happen, she found herself facing a greater enemy than she could possibly imagine.

Her true and longtime nemesis; boredom.

The exact same boredom that scratched down her back as she paced languidly in the same circle for ten minutes. She had started to drag one of her blue sneakers against the jungle floor, leaving behind a small indent in the dirt. The elongated oval she created on the ground of her hiding spot stimulated her attention for a hot-second, but nothing more.

Most of the squads had already invaded the hidden Krolotean base, leaving Cassie, her mentor, Superboy, and Superman all waiting outside ready to jump into action. They had been in there a long time though.

She and her said mentor sat by on an abandoned trail not too far from the volcano's facade. Earlier, during the mission briefing, it was decided that there would be the best place for the two, with the two Kryptonians on the adjacent side. As this was supposed to be a covert operation, all four were only meant to be back up in case everything went to hell.

Cassie found it a little funny how things always went to hell. As she was about to huff at her frustration, "Patience, Cassandra."

Looking up towards the hill's crest, Cassie's eyes became glued to where her mentor proudly stood. Without even trying, Diana's natural-born confidence and beauty radiated off of her like sun rays. Or more like the bright moonbeams, just like the ones that were bathing the Amazonian princess in ethereal light at that very moment. If there was ever such a person to preach patience to Cassie, Diana was the only one she would actually listen to.

Yet, even now Cassie was testing that very piece of knowledge, "They've been in there too long. Something's not right."

"This is a covert operation, you know we are to only get involved if matters become dire."

Cassie slumped down onto one of the large rocks littering the ground. She muttered under her breath, "Yeah, but it doesn't mean I want to sit here and do nothing."

"I hope you knew that I would hear that," Diana spoke with indifference.

Blushing heavily, Cassie turned her face downward. It was enough to be embarrassed by her mentor, but to look her in the eye while doing so? No.

Diana kept her focus on the volcano, awaiting any signal from her comrades. The girl didn't mean anything by what she said. Anyone could see that the anxiety of being kept away from battle got to the protégé of Wonder Woman. Diana had once felt the same yearning for the battlefield as the young blonde had now. That very yearning and drive to do good in man's world made the Amazonian leave her island of Themyscira decades ago. She had never regretted that decision and only hoped that Cassie was driven by the same things that she was, and that she might one day meet Diana upon the same tier; as equals.

Catching a quick glance at the young girl who had just taken off one of her shoes to shake out a loose pebble made Diana realize that she might be waiting a few centuries before that day ever came.

* * *

Cassie knew she felt something rolling around in her shoe, and it was going to drive her crazy if she did not find it. She had barely been walking, so why did she have to sit down in the middle of a perilous mission and dig for a possibly non-existent pebble.

If there was one and if she did find it, she would take it in between two of her fingers and snuff it out. She'd make sure that not even an atom of the tiny rock would exist after she was done with it.

Now, if she were, to be honest with herself, she'd accept that the pebble wasn't what was bothering her. She'd come to terms with her disappointment that all of this sitting and waiting did not come up to par with her usually fast-paced and action-packed missions. She'd tell Diana that she didn't have the stomach for just sitting there and doing nothing while her friends were inside enemy lines, risking their lives.

She and Superboy were the ones who were near-bulletproof. They could take the damage and give it right back to those aliens. They should have been able to just bust through the joint, gotten the information on the Kroloteans that they needed, and been on their merry way, to Hades with anything and everything that got in their way.

" _That's right,"_ a voice spoke against her mind. It felt as though it was said right against her ear and then drifted down along her back, sending a frenzy of shivers down her spine.

Cassie's head whipped around to see who spoke, but there was no one but her mentor several feet away. Her eyes scanned the small trees and vegetation around her, but nothing in them moved with the exception of the gentle breeze that fell across the landscape. Deciding it was nothing, Cassie sat back down on her rock. She brought her hand up to her ear, wringing it out as though whatever she heard was just a fluke.

Her commlink suddenly beeped to life, "Nightwing to Delta Squad, enemy is attempting escape. Request back up."

"That's our queue," Cassie squealed. Without a single moment of hesitation, she leaped into the air heading straight for the mountain.

* * *

The loud roar of the Manta-Flyer's engines made it easy to understand that Kaldur'ahm's men were making their escape. In Cassie's mind; like hell they were.

She ran full-speed at the craft, "They're getting away!"

Luckily for her, La'gaan was hot on her tail, "We'll stop them!"

"Negative," Nightwing interrupted through the commlinks, "We have a bomb down here, alien tech. I cannot disarm it."

' _A bomb? Why here?'_ Cassie's mind asked. She didn't think to answer it as she continued to run a little bit further down the dock leading to where the Manta-Flyer was. She only slowed down after hearing Nightwing's communications, and when she realized she could not catch up to the escaping ship. She could only stare as the intensely dark flyer sunk under the waves, it's massive size represented by its hulking shadow. Then, she saw as that same shadow fell underneath the rocky interior of the secret watery-entrance of the volcano and disappeared into the depths of the ocean.

Within seconds, Nightwing spoke again, "All squads, evacuate to Bioship. Now!"

She turned back to see that La'gaan had not halted in his tracks as she had. Instead, the Atlantean had regrouped with his mentor, Aquaman. The two taking on several Krolotean mechs that were firing on them. Luckily for La'gaan, he was given enough time in between the mechs individual attacks to be able to go into his puffer mode, which allowed his upper body and strength to grow to a gargantuan size.

Taking ahold of a large boulder that had fallen from the ceiling earlier in the fight, La'gaan chucked it right at one of the mechs that were showering him with plasma blasts. The mech dodged the projectile and continued to fire at Cassie's teammate.

None of the other mechs seemed to have noticed Cassie, as she stood out on the open battlefield unmolested. Not wanting to risk fighting on anything but her own terms, Cassie pulled herself up into the air right alongside her mentor.

Down on one of the base's catwalks, Cassie spotted Batman and two of his subordinates, Batgirl and Robin, dodging fire from the mechs. Batgirl evaded them by performing several backflips and back handsprings like they were nothing. Coming out of one her handsprings, she threw a batarang directly into the front of one of the mechs that were shooting at her. Though it exploded on impact, it did little to bother the Kroloteans machine, as it continued to fire at her; forcing her to do even more impressive maneuvers to get out of its weapon's range.

' _Perfect gymnast that she is...has to make everybody feel insecure about everything,'_ the little voice in Cassie's head whined.

The voice did go silent as Cassie looked down on Robin, who had just pushed back several Krolotean soldiers. The little green creatures scurried away as Robin swung his bo-staff from one hand, around the back of his neck, and into his other hand, forcing them further from him and his teammates. There were two of the Kroloteans that were able to get past him and run down one of the bases many hallways.

One of the Kroloteans finally spotted her, as it pointed up to the air where she was hovering. Several of the aliens drew out guns, also alien in their nature, that was probably a foot taller than their wielders. Cassie was able to shield herself behind her bulletproof bracelets just as they were beginning to lay fire on her.

The sheer brightness of the blasts forced Cassie to close one eye and leave the other squinting to the point that the eye was almost closed. The heat that was coming off her bracelets was nearly as intolerable, but she had to hold on long enough to get a good moment to redirect the blasts that were being aimed at her and throw them back at the aliens. She was able to see the small group of them hiding behind some fallen rocks. Taken that she was high up in the air, they'd be an easy target if she could just fire back at them.

Far behind her, she heard Batman shout, "You heard Nightwing, move!"

She turned her one good eye to see Robin and Batgirl fleeing down a tunnel, which must have been their way in, as Batman followed only a few seconds behind them. Said Batman's command was just the thing that Cassie had been waiting for, as most of the Kroloteans that were firing on her looked up to see what the winged-crusader was yelling about. Taking advantage of their distraction, Cassie pushed back on the blasts, angling her two gauntlet-covered wrists so that her shots would hit the Kroloteans on both ends of their cluster, and it worked.

Dodging more of the fire from the Kroloteans, she met back up with Diana, swinging around so that the two would fly down to Aquaman and La'gaan. Diana picked up the King of Atlantis, and Cassie nabbed her teammate. The four went up and out through the hole that Superman's heat vision ever so helpfully created.

"Oh come on," La'gaan grumbled to Cassie. "I wasn't done yet!"

"Yeah, well, you're done now. The place is gonna blow."

The Amazons and their carry-ons made it through to the outside, right above where the Bioship had just landed. Cassie let go of La'gaan right as their feet touched the ramp that led inside the ship. Batman along with his two subordinates trailed not too far behind.

Cassie made it into the ship's cargo hold and came up to the entrance of the main hull. La'gaan sped up in front of her, so he entered the hull first and cried, "Neptune's beard."

From where she was standing, Cassie was able to see two Kroloteans seated comfortably in two of the ship's seats. One in the front, and one at the controls. The one at the controls began to speak, "Hello, Megan." It suddenly morphed into the familiar guise of M'gann M'orzz, Miss Martian. At the same time, the other alien transformed back into Martian Manhunter. "Knew we forgot something."

Without even taking a step into the hull, Cassie felt a gloved hand grab onto her shoulder and eased her to the side away from the doorway. The blonde turned to see Barbara was holding onto her as Batman swept past them, as though he did not see them there. Cassie smiled at Barbara, silently thanking her for being saved from blocking the terrifying man.

Just a few feet away from Barb stood Robin, his head cast downward. Though with the angle that his mask was in, Cassie could have sworn that if he was not wearing it, he'd be looking right at her. So, assuming that, she turned looked directly at him and nodded. The boy's head turned away from her, not returning the acknowledgment.

From the central hull, M'gann firmly spoke, "Find a seat, it's time to go."

Superboy yelled, "Wait, where's Superman."

"It's too late," Batman replied calmly. "We have to leave now."

Robin brushed aside Barbara, heading right into the other room without as much as a side glance to Cassie, even though she was standing only inches away from him. Cassie had to make a sideways glance at Barb to make sure she was seeing things correctly. The other girl just threw a shrug and a half smile at her friend and pushed her on in to find seats.

Barbara moved to the front of the ship were the rest of her family was sitting. That left Cassie to stand around staring at a room full of seats that had already been commandeered by someone. Her and Superboy's eyes met for a second, as he was sitting in the closest seat to her.

He got up from the spot and moved closer to her, "Take it."

Cassie wouldn't argue with him, as the amount of worry etched onto his face made her not even want to look him in the eye; given the irrational fear that if she did, the death glare that he would give her would be so powerful, the ability to shoot lasers out of his eyes that everyone was told was accessible to all earthbound Kryptonians, (save him) would suddenly become available to him and he'd kill her instantly.

The Bioship took off into the sky just as Cassie had taken the freshly made vacant seat and buckled in. She was very thankful to Superboy, as the speed that the ship was going at was giving off so much force, Cassie could feel herself being pushed into her seat. Behind her head, she could feel Superboy's fingers digging into her chair. He was doing his best not to do so, but she couldn't really blame him. The ship needed to go at its breakneck speed so that it could avoid the blast of the bomb still sitting on Manila Island. It was due to go off any second.

When it did, boy did it go off. The sound of what could only be described as a faint puff of air came up behind the ship. It didn't suddenly roar up to the forefront of everyone onboards eardrums, it instead gradually grew louder and louder, as an intense bright yellow light raced towards the fleeing heroes.

The light engulfed the Bioship in a dome of its fierce brightness. Cassie felt as though it was creating a pulsing effect on her mind, giving her wave after wave of acute pressure inside her head.

Then, there came a surge of energy, hitting the back of the Martian craft and sending anyone that was not seated up against any wall or ceiling. Luckily, the only people not seated were Aquaman and Superboy, they could take the hit. Still, Cassie felt a small part in the back of her brain feel bad for the two, especially since she had been given one of their seats. Yet the majority of her focus was riding out the tremendous amount of discomfort and head that was radiating off of the energy cloud surrounding her.

To her, It was as though she was on a rollercoaster, going down the first big hill of the ride; but she could not feel the ride's decline give way to another incline. It just kept going down and down, with no end in sight.

M'gann did get the ship to go higher into the atmosphere, which lead the whole team out of the imminent death trap and back out into the clear night air.

Cassie looked out through the ship's panoramic window to see the explosion that had engulfed the entirety of Malina Island. ' _Gods,'_ she found her mind saying over and over again as the evidence of the island's destruction became more clear.

The volcano, what was left of it after the Kroloteans hollowed it out, the ship inside of it, and all of the Kroloteans that were there, were now nothing more than a memory.

Thinking about those aliens, who caused nothing but trouble, made Cassie's loud and befuddled mind go silent. The bright cloud that could have eaten her up only moments ago, had wiped away those creatures from existence. As much as she wanted to stop thinking about it, one thing resurfaced in her memory; Superman.

* * *

The group had to circle around the island only for a few moments to try and find the unconscious Kryptonian. He was quickly taken aboard and inspected for injury. Since there was no big fuss going on in the cargo hold where he was being held, Cassie assumed he would make a full recovery.

Her thoughts went directly back to the explosion in which he was hurt in, "What just happened?"

M'gann wasted no time in replying, "The Kroloteans were clearly trying to build a new ship."

"They had to angelfish," La'gaan interrupted. "It was their only way to leave Earth without their Zeta platforms or their original ship."

Cassie's eyes darted between the two, "But, was Aqualad helping them escape? Or luring them into a trap?"

La'gaan turned his head back so that he was facing straight onwards, not answering Cassie's question. Cassie turned to see that M'gann had also turned away, avoiding any eye contact with whom she was just talking to. Taking this as a "now's not a good time to ask" moment, Cassie slunk back down in her seat, silently pondering why Aqualad would want to hurt his so-called business associates.

* * *

 _Mount Justice_

 _January 7th, 18:16 EST_

Cassie loved to work with the training dummies inside the Cave's workout room. She still loved training and sparring with her teammates in the Cave's mission room, sure, but she liked to beat up a partner that didn't have thoughts or feelings. Or breakable bones. So it was nice to cut loose on them.

Although, she had gotten reprimanded once or twice by Nightwing because she had broken six dummies within a month. She couldn't cut completely loose, but she could let go just a little bit, and that was heaven to her.

She struck a few jabs at one of the dummy's arms, and then roundhouse kicked with a little assistance from her ability to hover in the air. Most of her Amazonian sisters would call that cheating, she saw it as using her abilities to the full of their potential. She also was not engaged in real combat, so it didn't really count.

For her, the earlier day had been a truly stressful day, as the small amount of Krolotean information that M'gann and her uncle, Martian Manhunter, had swiped from Malina Island during that fateful mission had to be heavily decrypted and translated before they could do anything with it. No one, not even Batman knew how long that was going to take.

To add insult to injury, Cassie's thoughts kept going back to the Kroloteans on that island.

Frustrated, the young girl started to rapidly punch at the dummy, trying to hit the same spots over and over again. The images of the creatures still swam around in her head. She had to keep reminding herself that they were the bad guys, she shouldn't feel sorry for them. If M'gann, who was one of the sweetest people Cassie knew, barely even flinched at the thought of the dead aliens, she shouldn't either.

" _Your friend is right,"_ a voice in the back of Cassie's mind whispered.

The voice made Cassie pause in her assault on her wooden adversary. Breathing heavily, she waited to see if it would speak again. A few moments passed with no reply, and she chalked it up to her exhaustion catching up to her. She pushed it from her thoughts and began punching the doll again.

" _How can you sit by as the crimes that those things did get swept aside; forgotten?"_ the voice came again. Agitated, yet still calm. " _Do you truly care so little for your fellow man that you're skin does not crawl to think about what they did to their prisoners?"_

Cassie kneed the dummy in its center, "The abductees told us what happened, they were barely harmed."

" _Yes, but how many more of those vile monsters maintain a presence here? A hundred? A thousand? Does your "team" truly care to know?"_

Cassie grew upset, "We're doing our best!"

" _I know you are, but what of your masters?"_

"I don't have any masters! Shut up!" Cassie punched a hole straight through the dummy's head.

Realizing very quickly what she did, Cassie regained a bit of herself before trying to pull her hand back out of the dummy, but it became stuck. The damn head had to be ripped right off of the body, but then its head was still stuck on Cassie's wrist.

' _I'd tell you to be careful of that temper of yours,'_ the voice spoke mocking her. ' _I was not even trying to offend you.'_

Cassie felt relief as the presence of the voice left her mind, as gentle as though it were as thin as a gossamer. She was left alone in the room with her hand stuck in her dummy's head.

"Great job, Cass," she whispered to herself.

As she tried to pull her hand out from the block of wood, she noticed a presence lurking in the doorway. Unable to get her hand out, she huffed in frustration, giving up the embarrassing task. Though, she would rather clean Beast Boy's bedroom for a month than let whoever was watching her see her embarrassment.

"Yeah, I broke it. I'll pay for another one," she said while she turned to look at her visitor. Both her normal hand and her unusually weighted one resting on her hips in defiance.

Standing halfway in the room, just about as comfortable as he could be, was Robin. The tall boy's deep black cape hung well over him, covering up his chest so much, Cassie could only see a glimpse of red beneath his cloak. His eyes resting right on Cassie's stuck hand.

"Do you need help?" he asked.

"What?" Cassie looked down at her hand. She took it off of her hips, examining it, "No, no. It's fine-I've got under control."

The boy nodded, biting his lower lip like it was an unconscious reflex. He re-anchored his feet on the ground, wobbling a little as he did so. Then he just stood in his spot, saying and betraying nothing.

With the two of them just standing there, it was plain as day that the boy was deeply uncomfortable with being there. Cassie had no idea why he'd continue to say if he had no reason to be there. Maybe he was waiting for a chance encounter with Nightwing or one of the other senior members of the team to show them what she had done to the dummy.

Not wanting to give him that chance or be any more awkward than she already was, Cassie licked her lips, "If you're going to tell Nightwing, I'll just do it for you."

"I wasn't going to say anything," he said a little quieter than usual. If that was possible for him. "Besides, if he did see it, he'd already know it was you."

Cassie opened her mouth, only to shut it seconds later, _'He's right. Of_ _course, he's right,'_ her mind raced.

Dead silence filled the room again. Neither one of the teenagers looked the other right in the eye, as that would increase both of their anxieties. Cassie fiddled with some of the loose pieces of wood that were projecting from the block attached to her hand, she didn't really think about if it would give her splinters. She was just hoping that the raven-haired boy across the room would either leave or say something.

Right on cue, "Are you sure you don't need help-"

"No, I'll be fine. Thank you."

"I'll...see you then," He nodded again and continued on his way down the hall. His cape fluttering behind him.

Standing alone in the workroom, Cassie didn't find herself thinking about her encounter with the boy wonder. She wasn't even really thinking about him or what she said to him. She couldn't quite put into words what she was thinking about, all she could say is that whatever it was that she was thinking about, helped her become so focused or relaxed, whichever of the two she was feeling, that she was able to slip the block right from her hand, freeing it once again.

She rubbed at the irritated red skin as the block fell to the floor, creating a loud enough thud that she was sure that Robin heard it down the hall, or wherever he was.

* * *

Author's Notes: Thank you all so much for reading. I know it probably wasn't worth the wait, but we'll be getting to more Tim and Cassie centered moments soon. Please leave a comment or review if you want, they help me get to writing quicker.

Cheers,

EKG


	5. Chapter 5

_Mount Justice_

 _January 8, 20:49 EST_

It was a bit unusual for Tim to shower so early in the evening. Usually, his evening patrols with Batman would keep him out until one or two in the morning. If he was with the team, he'd only get to clean himself up after debriefing and returning home to Wayne Manor. That would usually mean he'd be out of the shower and in bed at around three. If he was lucky, he'd get a few hours rest before he had to get up and attend classes at Gotham Academy.

His schedule was always that hectic, but he could handle. To be honest, he didn't think he could handle a normal sleep schedule anymore.

This week though was peculiar tough, as it made him as busy as ever with his team's missions and all of the schoolwork he had to catch up on in his downtime. Despite all of that craziness, he found himself in the Cave late at night on a weekend with nothing to do. No mission, homework, or any other engagements crossed his mind. He was utterly free.

So, he didn't see it as much of a crime if he would take a shower there at the Cave instead of at home. The showers were always vacant, so he was able to slip in and out of the washrooms in under ten minutes, clean as a whistle.

He walked down the empty corridors of the Cave wondering where everyone had gone. Malcolm and Karen were most likely out on the town, and Nightwing said he and a few of the other seniors were going out to investigate a lead on the Light's connection with the Kroloteans and they wouldn't be back till later; but that didn't explain where everyone else was.

Rubbing his hand along the back of his neck and into the ends of his damp black hair, Tim heard a loud commotion coming all the way down from the tv room. No doubt it was his fellow teammates. He was intrigued to see what was causing them to yell so much.

* * *

He strolled into the tv room just as Jaime's arm flew over the coffee table reaching for his friend's handful of cards, "Gar, that is cheating!"

"No it's not, I made my bid," Garfield complained. His face took on a look of sudden despair, he turned to Cassie for reassurance, "I did do that right, Cassie?"

"Yes," lounging blonde agreed, pulling herself up from where she was leaning against the room's bright green couch. When earlier that evening she had suggested to Garfield, Jaime, and La'gaan that she teach them Pitch, she also gave them the idea that they should all sit on the floor around the coffee table as a way to draw them closer. Only now, Gar's competitive side was rearing its ugly head by peeking at everyone's cards. It was fittingly though with how much he was craning over to peak at other's cards, his cards became visible to his Atlantean friend.

La'gaan's eyes daggered his younger friend, "Nice going moron, now I know you're holding an ace." Garfield leaned back to his original spot and threw down a five of clubs.

Cassie's eyes shifted towards her own cards, "I hope you weren't planning on that being low." As she said that, she laid down a 2 of clubs right next to Gar's card.

La'gaan and Jaime both threw cards of little consequence into the pile. Jaime took all but Cassie's 2, which made Garfield mutter in irritation.

While Cassie marked down everyone's points onto a spare napkin, Tim approached the table, "Are you playing High Low Jack?"

"We call it Pitch, but yeah," Cassie stated.

La'gaan got up from his seat, "You want to join? You can take my place."

Before Tim could say no, he had already been handed the Atlantean's pile of cards. He was halfway out the the door before he had made the excuse that the game had gotten stale. Tim could have just walked away, but he figured that he didn't have any reason to not play. So without a second thought, he took La'gaan's place at the coffee table. Right next to Cassie.

Cassie looked to him, "You ever played this?"

"Once. I'm surprised you have."

With the deck in her hand, the blonde casually dealt out the next hand. "Whenever my mom would take me on digs with no wifi, we'd play this." After dealing out everyone's cards, she glanced over at the scoreboard, "We're playing to twenty one. You-or La'gaan had sixteen points, Jaime has twelve points, Gar has eight, and I have nineteen. You bid first."

Tim looked at the hand he was dealt, "We each try to get high, low, jack, and game with one suit of cards, right?"

"Yeah. If you think you have all four; you bid four points. If you think you only have the highest and/or lowest of a suit, or you have the jack of a suit, then you can bid two," Jaime confirmed. He turned his head to Cassie, silently asking if he was right in his description of the rules.

She nodded. "Game is settled by adding up the values of all face cards at the end of every round. If you bid two or three but you don't get the points, we'll subtract whatever you bid from your current score"

"Okay, I'll bid three."

"Right off the bat?" asked Jaime.

Tim shrugged, "Why not. It's not like I'll win."

Jaime and Garfield laid their cards face down, each murmuring a pass under their breath.

Cassie however, was not so quick to pass. She sat staring at her cards, shuffling them around as though looking at them in a different progression would make it better. She let out a dramatic sigh, "Well, shoot, I was gonna bid three." She sighed a few more times, letting the fingers of her free hand tap the Lone Ranger theme song against the coffee table.

"Whenever you're ready," Garfield whined.

"Alright, I'll bid four," Cassie whined right back. She threw down a three of diamonds, "I'll count that as low."

From the corner of her eye, Cassie could see that the boy sitting next to her was looking a little perturbed. "Uhm…" He pulled a single card from his deck and laid it down, revealing it as a two of diamonds.

* * *

There was a moment of silence that swallowed up the room. Cassie could understand that the game was continuing, as Jaime and Gar were putting down their own cards and then handing the cards over to the apparent winner of the round, but her eyes were solely focused on the tiny printed number two. It mocked her.

Shaking it off for a moment, Cassie noticed Jaime had placed down a five of clubs, which made a perfect target for the queen she had in her hand. Neither of the other two players at the table had any objection to this play, and she was able to clean up the table and keep her queen. In the back of her mind, she had been hoping that it was going to be considered the high of the round. She had to rely on that hope, as it was the only thing that made her feel that she could keep the Jack she had saved for the last part of the round.

She led again with a small clubs, one she was willing to sacrifice. The batboy next to her didn't hesitate in throwing down a ten of clubs, which neither Garfield or Jaime could succeed it taking. So the round went to Robin.

Cassie started to regret throwing away her queen when there was a ten out there. Oh well, if she was going to fail in getting her four points for this round, the least she could do was make sure that the boy wonder wouldn't get any points either.

That would prove more difficult than she would believe.

In the last part of the round, Garfield and Jaime had revealed they both had terrible cards. There was no way Cassie could keep herself from smiling as she threw her Jack down onto the table for everyone to see, "Read it and weep." Her hands moved for the pile of cards that were to be her winnings-

"Not so fast," Robin said without any hint of remorse. He laid directly above her Jack, his own ace. "I think these both belong to me." Cassie didn't object. She physically couldn't. No part of her body would move. "So, that would make my two count as low, the ace as high, the jack as well, jack and...the ten as game. Cause I don't think your queen beats a ten."

Garfield wasted no time in saying, "It doesn't."

"Great, then that gives me high, low, jack, and game. All four points." With that, Robin swept up all of the cards, and all of Cassie's hopes of winning anything.

She sat in her spot for a few moments doing a great impression of someone in a coma. No help came from her as all three guys grabbed at the cards and put them back into the box they came in.

"Why did I suck at that game?" Garfield wondered out loud.

"You suck at a lot of things. It's the Law of Averages," Jaime said rather casually.

That riled Gar up, "That's not how that works!"

As the two bickered, they moved into the kitchen area to see if there were any Chicken Whizees left in the pantry. Jaime doubted it, but Garfield made the point that it was always a safe bet to look. Robin did not follow, as he lingered in the living space a few feet away from the stone-like Cassie.

"You okay, Cassie?"

There was a moment of pause, "Yeah." And then another, "Yeah." Only followed by another few moments of silence where Cassie didn't blink or show any emotion whatsoever. "Actually,no. I don't like you right now."

She got up from her spot to move towards the kitchen, with a bewildered Robin close behind her just as Nightwing's voice came over their earpieces, "Robin, Wonder Girl, Blue Beetle, and Beast Boy, report for mission briefing."

Garfield slammed one of the pantry doors shouting, "Mission time!"

* * *

 _New York City_

 _January 9, 21:38 EST_

Cassie could forgive Nightwing for not handing out life-threatening missions so soon after Malina Island. It was too soon for any information that was taken from there to be used, and Cassie didn't want to think about how Aqualad's defection was affecting all those around her. That aside, she couldn't help but be a little underwhelmed with the itinerary of her evening.

Shadow the movements of the United Nations' Secretary General? This hardly qualified as a mission for Gamma Squad, let alone Beta. There were no noticeable death threats made to the General's life recently. In fact, his favorability in the polls had been at a record high for the past few weeks.

Only thing was that the spike in his popularity was made when the General himself was in captivity and replaced with an alien impostor. So, take it or leave it. Nightwing feared there might be another attempt to abduct the General, so that brought Cassie to where she was now. Flying above the official's entourage.

Nightwing's heart was in the right place, but he couldn't get the League interested in the job? No, instead she had to be part of the glorified security while the General spent the night brushing elbows with the world's elite.

Robin's voice cut in over her thoughts, "Remember team, we're only to follow the Secretary General until he returns to the UN at 2300."

With him being the team leader, he decided that the squad would be better splitting up into twos, one on the ground and the other in the air. Seeing as he was the only one who couldn't fly, he elected to hijack one of Nightwing's old motorcycles and follow the motorcade from a few cars behind. Garfield followed up on Robin's decision by shifting into a mouse and hiding in one of Robin's pockets. That left Cassie and Jaime with aerial support.

"Who do you think the Secretary General has to meet with back at the UN? My money's on the President," Jaime yelled just loud enough for Cassie to hear over the wind.

Cassie rolled herself around in mid air in order to look at Jaime, "Don't know. It'd be pretty sinister if he'd had a secret meeting with the President at eleven o'clock at night."

"Yeah, but it'd be the perfect time!"

"Why?"

"No one...would be awake-Hermana, I don't know...time zones or something." Two seconds later, he caught himself on his logic. He laughed hesitantly, "No wait, they'd be in the same time zone…"

Cassie couldn't stop herself from joining him in laughter, though hers was genuine versus Jaime's awkwardness. It was rare for them to be a part of the same squad and that just made Cassie feel all the poorer for it. She and the beetle had always gotten along. Heck, she was one of the people who got him to join the team in the first place.

Robin's voice came through her comm-link, "You got visuals on Tseng?"

Following his words, the blonde looked down to notice that the Secretary General's car had already left the busy New York streets and pulled up to the atrium of a hotel. A mass of people, all media no doubt, had begun to crowd around his and his security's cars. The flash of cameras and phones could still be easily seen from the height that Cassie and her teammate were at.

Jaime did Cassie a favor by reporting in, "Sí, jefe is being escorted into the building. Right on schedule."

"Confirmed. Continue on to the rendezvous point. Beast Boy and I will join you asap. Radio in if there's any trouble. Clear?"

Both Cassie and Jaime's responses, her "clear" and his "entendido" overlapped over the other.

Robin made a good team leader, which was a given with any member of the Bat family, but Cassie felt that he didn't need to remind them of what their mission was. Nightwing had already seen to hammering in each step of this mission into their skulls. First, meet with Tseng and his security detail, then the second part came the unending crawl towards the Secretary General's obligations that evening.

The third part was being executed at that moment as Cassie and Jaime flew towards one of the larger skyscrapers in the area. It was a good place to meet not only for its location (which was right across the street from Tseng's party), but also for its height. See, the roof that the pair was about to land on was just a few levels above the floor Tseng was going to be on, but there was enough distance between them that they were at the right angle to see everything going on within the party. And they were high up enough no one would notice four kids staring intently at an adult gathering.

The two landed safely, and immediately began checking every corner of the place for any sign that someone was already there.

"Roof's secure," Jaime radioed in.

"Understood," Robin answered. "Will be arriving soon, e.t.a two minutes."

Cassie looked over the roof once again, seeing that there was not much to be seen. There were just a few edge barriers around it just to keep anyone from having any funny ideas, and the only other noticeable thing there was the door marked as the rooftop entrance. Jaime strolled over to the edge, giving him the perfect vantage point for watching the Secretary General's position. One of his armored hands transformed into what looked like a pair of high-tech binoculars. Him bringing them up to his eyes confirmed that idea in Cassie's head, "See anything interesting?"

"No, nothing's going on."

She walked over to join him in his watch. Her eyes darted across the street to the giant panes of glass which let her look upon what seemed like a warm and fun party. A subtle crackling fire which no doubt brought some warmth into the room. Some twinkling lights hung around the room along with some garlands and other decorations to make it feel festive. The Secretary General's wave of bodyguards moved throughout the room, letting only Tseng's hand out of their protection to shake the hands of anyone brave enough to walk up to his intimidating guards.

Overall, the party just seemed too nice for anything exciting to happen. Just gazing over at it made Cassie just want to fly over and crash it. Maybe steal a few horderves before being shuffled out of the building. Who knows? Maybe one of the dignitaries there would love to meet Wonder Woman's protege? All of those thoughts just made standing out in the cold even more unbearable.

"It's only for one night," Cassie silently repeated to herself. Blue Beetle was known on the team as the guy who mutters weird things to himself, and she was not prepared to join him in that regard. To keep her mind occupied, she tried to envision any reason as to why they'd be helpful outside.

The scenario she liked the best was someone down at ground level was going to grapple their way up the side of the building and blow up the party. What look would be on that person's face when they come face-to-face-to-face-to-face with Blue Beetle, Wonder Girl, and Beast Boy? Robin would be back down on the ground with bat cuffs waiting for them to bring him the perp. Cassie sighed, as that scenario would only work if bat cuffs were a real thing. She wasn't prepared to ask Robin whether or not they were real. She didn't need anymore weird conversations with him. Plus, she was still kinda mad that he beat her at pitch.

And speaking of the devil, the roof entry door swung open to reveal the boy wonder and his green-skinned sidekick. Right before Robin was about to speak, Garfield beat him to the punch, "Anything we miss?"

"No, ese. Just a bunch of talking. Anything happen on ground level?"

Robin didn't take the time to reply, instead choosing to move over next to him and watch the party in silence.

Garfield came up from behind Cassie and stood next to her, but honestly she didn't notice. She was too preoccupied watching her team leader watch a bunch of people who she's never heard of. The only foreign dignitary that she ever paid attention to was the ambassador Themyscira. And she was back in the homeland taking care of some treaty between the Amazons and some place called Bana-Mighdall. At least she thought it was a treaty. It could have been a trade agreement or something, when Diana was talking about it, Cassie's attention faded in and out of the conversation.

Cassie had to wonder what was going on in that little investigator's mind. Were there any threats to the Secretary General? Which people at the party drew his attention? What details was he seeing that she didn't?

Perhaps in a bid to air some of his thoughts, Jaime started talking out loud, "Security said they had the building surrounded. Airspace is clear too. If anything bigger than a drone get within a mile of the building, they'll know about it."

Robin didn't seem to understand, "What's your point?"

"My point is, if extraterrestres really do want to kidnap him again, it's more likely they'll attack from the inside and not the out. We should be in there."

Cassie couldn't help but agree with Jaime. But Robin had other ideas, "And have the Secretary General explain to a room full of dignitaries why one of his bodyguards is green? No offense, Beast Boy."

"None taken," said Garfield. Though he didn't sound mad, his tail quipped around too much. Like a cat's when it's about to strike. He then slunk away from the group, just so he could sulk over in some corner away from them. Cassie noticed that Robin took in Gar's acceptance of his apology, but he didn't seem to notice that his words against the boy were not taken as lightly as he thought they were. Cassie decided against confronting Robin or comforting Gar. Give or take a few hours, the two would kiss and make up.

* * *

It only took an hour for Gar to be talking to him again. Tim felt bad that he hurt his teammates feelings, but Gar always proved to him that he could bounce back from anything. So now, the two of them were monitoring any frequency changes within the hotel's security system. If anyone tried to override the cameras and sneak in, they know about it.

Jaime switched from watching the party to listening to it, as his armor switched from binoculars to a listening device strong enough to pick up all of the conversations being held across the street. Only he tuned in specifically to Tseng and all of his associates. This left Wonder Girl to fly around the building a few times to make sure there were no suspicious vehicles parked nearby. Tim could see her flying back to them, "See anything?"

"Again," she started. "Nothing."

He nodded to her as she moved back over to where Blue Beetle was stationed. The mission was almost over, so hopefully they could all relax and continue their monitoring without incident.

Gar apparently decided to use the quiet moment as an opportunity to ask Tim a question, "Rob, did you hear about the league? You know about…" Gar looked over to Cassie and Blue, both of whom were busy watching wavelengths on Blue's listening device go up and down. His voice then went into a whisper that was just as loud as his normal voice, "About the leaguers on Rimbor?"

That caught Cassie's attention.

Tim's eyes moved from his holographic screen over to Gar even though his mask hid this, "We should talk about this later."

Both Gar and Cassie's attention shifted back over to the party. Some of the guests had already left, and it looked like Tseng's group were about to depart as well. That would mean that all they had to do was get him back to the UN safely and the mission was a success.

Too bad Gar couldn't let things lie, "M'gann said the Green Lanterns are trying to get them a trial with some High Court there. To clear their names. But, that would mean that all the leaguers involved would have to go into space. That's like...breaking the Justice League in half."

"Gar," Tim snapped. When he turned his head to face him, he saw three sets of eyes staring back at him. He huffed, "I don't know what'll happen to them. I'd like to know, but we can't focus on that right now. We have a job to do."

Both Gar and Blue nodded and turned away. Cassie's eyes lingered. She didn't appear to be shocked by his outburst, there was only worry on her face.

Not wanting to be stared at any longer, he turned back to see that Tseng's entourage were moving for the exit.

Tim stood up just as his holographic screen disappeared, "It's time to go."

* * *

 _Mount Justice_

 _January 9, 01:37 EST_

All in all, it was a good mission. No one was hurt, the Secretary General was safe, and nothing exploded. That was a mark up compared to the ways that "simple security jobs" typically went for the team. Even if it was boring, Tim couldn't complain since nothing went wrong.

Nightwing didn't hide the pride within his voice, "Excellent work, Beta. Now hit the showers and head home."

Neither Blue nor Gar had to be told twice. The two raced each other as they headed towards the showers. Blue was in the lead before Gar turned into a falcon and zoomed past his friend.

Nightwing quietly congratulated Tim before he too marched off into a different part of the cave. That left him and Cassie alone in the briefing room. He was about to make her the last person in the room, but she spoke to him before he could make it to the zeta tubes, "Gar and I were talking about doing a night in here. You know, movies, tv, video games."

He turned to face her as she continued, "It's late and there's no point in going home, might as well stay up, right? Jaime said he's on board and La'gaan is already asleep. You in?"

Tim did take a moment to think about it, but then decided against it. "I should be getting back to Gotham. Maybe next time."

"Yeah, okay. I mean, I think we had enough team-building with the mission today. And with that card game earlier."

The two stood by silently. Tim didn't think it would be right for him to slowly back into the zeta tube behind him. But he didn't know what else to say, "T-That was fun, though. We should do that again. Y-you know, later. Not now. Cause I have to go home."

Cassie nodded along, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, hopefully I won't be such an ogre the next time I lose to you."

"What makes you think you'll lose next time?"

She shrugged, "Any time we've fought each other, you've won. It'd be pretty dumb of me to think that I'll beat you."

Why did that comment sting at Tim? "It's a bit pessimistic to think that you can't beat me. You might win next time, don't doubt yourself."

Even though the blonde smiled and nodded to him, Tim didn't really think that his words got to her. She played it cool, not letting any negative feelings slip as she quickly spoke, "Thanks, Robin. Now I'm gonna hold you to that next time, though. It'll be fun. Besides, you kinda need to lighten up- loosen up. Get crazy."

Tim feared that Cassie could see how much his eyes widened at that statement. His mind raced asking, " _Do I respond to that?",_ " _How do I respond to that?"_ , " _Can I just silently disappear like Batman? No, she is staring me and the zeta tubes are not silent."_

Internally panicking, he decided the best way to successfully avoid any awkwardness was just to say one thing so he could avoid rambling or sounding weird, "Sure."

Avoiding awkwardness: failed.

The overall weirdness of the situation seemed to become too much for Cassie, as she backed away from him and headed back towards the kitchen. "I should get going, have a good night!"

She flew off down the hallway without a second glance towards him. Tim's mind still didn't know how to respond. Some part of his brain, probably the more logical part, must have known what to do, as he found himself moving back into the zeta tube. He wasn't fully comprehending what he was doing, but he was able to hear the computer above him read out, " _Recognized: Robin. B20."_ as he disappeared into the ether.

* * *

Author's Notes: Well look who final got a new chapter up. I know nothing really happened in this chapter, but we'll get to where we're going eventually. I'm planning on making this thirty chapters long, with a possible epilogue. Idk. So please bear with me and maybe we both might make it to the end. Reviews are always welcomed and appreciated. Thanks for reading this.

Cheers,

EKG


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